The Cost of Change

Although change is necessary component of the human existence it, most often, is not easy. Change means a departure from that which we "know" in an effort to discover that which we have no concrete experience of. Many of us want to see changes in our lives, yet change threatens our sense of security; security not in what is necessarily "best" for us, but rather security in what is familiar.

French writer Anatole France wrote: "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another".

Jesus called his disciples to pursue change when he told a group of fishermen, "come and follow me". The scriptures go on to say, "at once they left their nets and followed him". These fishermen were willing to set aside their way, for a new way after Jesus.

This is not a one-time call for discipleship, but a continual moment-by-moment decision we are faced with; to lay down our way for the way of Christ. It is only through laying down our old life that we may experience the working change of Jesus in our life and in this world....but are we willing?

What makes it difficult for you to let go of your old ways? How might God want to bring change to your life? What do you have to "die to" to usher in that change?